


Raiders of the Forbidden Fridge

by ItsaVikingThing



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Humor, Hijinks & Shenanigans, I started typing and this happened, Or at least one shenanigan and some medium jinks, silliness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-13 07:29:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14744546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsaVikingThing/pseuds/ItsaVikingThing
Summary: When Chloe Price finds out that Nathan Prescott has had a private, padlocked fridge installed in the boys' dorm, she becomes determined to plunder it.Which means that Max has to reluctantly go along with Chloe, to make sure she doesn't get caught. Which has everything to do with Max looking out for her friend and nothing to do with Max's growing feelings for Chloe, obviously!If they're going to pull this daring heist off, they're going to need a crack team of specialists to help them. Or maybe just some of the other kids at Blackwell...





	Raiders of the Forbidden Fridge

Max regrets it the second the words are out in the air.

" _What_ did you just say, Max?"

Chloe Price heaves herself up from a horizontal sprawl on Max's dorm bed to a vertical sprawl. It's one of her many impressive traits, her ability to occupy as much space as possible at any given time. She sits now, long legs splayed, leaning forward, blue eyes gleaming, her excitement evident from the quirk of her lips, to the nervous jiggle of her knee, to the way her long, pale fingers dance on Max's comforter.

It's a Tuesday evening, and the only real plan either of them had was to hang out together, relax, and maybe watch a movie or two. But everything about the energy now animating Chloe tells Max that Chloe has had an idea. Likely a terrible one that will cause them both grief.

Max licks her lips, remembering that she's supposed to be saying something just slightly after she's waited too long for it not to be weird. "I said, uh, isn't it a nice evening for a walk? We should get out of here and-"

"Nooo, I think you said something else, Max? About what happened in the dorm breakroom?"

"About the new fridge, yeah, but that's in the _boys'_ dorm. It isn't-"

Chloe bounces impatiently on Max's bed. "Dude, come on! You know what part I need to hear!"

"Uh, you mean about the..." Max swallows. "Prescott padlock? Because it's Nathan Prescott's exclusive fridge? I mean, even if his family donates a lot to the school, and basically got the dorms built, it's totally gross that Nathan gets to install a fridge in a communal space. But-"

"Shhhhh!" Chloe springs from the bed, still shushing, and takes two steps towards the couch that Max is sitting on, getting right into Max's space. She places a finger to Max's lips, not just silencing her, but locking her into place. "Max. Focus on what's important, here. A locked _Prescott_ fridge! There's bound to be delicious things in it, Max! And it is _complete_ bullshit that the school is letting him have it. So pirate law says the contents is _ours_ for the taking."

The invocation of pirate law makes this a potentially serious crisis. Chloe and Max used to play as pirates when they were kids, and it was always Chloe's dream to grow up to be one someday. In some ways, it's nice to know that that dream didn't end, even when the rest of Chloe's childhood did, and Max left her all alone for five years.

But, even as all of that flits through Max's mind, the most pressing issue Max is faced with is the finger Chloe's pressing against Max's face. Max sits very still, hoping that Chloe can't feel the rapid beating of Max's heart through their single point of physical contact. Chloe leans down so that her eyes are level with Max's, and, wowser, her face is _very_ close, and Max is sure that she's blushing and if Chloe teases her about it she'll blush even harder, and probably be the first person to die of a blush overdose, and then everyone will be too embarrassed to even come to Max's funeral.

Chloe removes her finger and waves it in admonition. "Now, Max, I know what you're thinking-"

"I hope not," Max blurts. She winces. "I mean, uh, you do?"

"Well..." Chloe draws back slightly, raising her eyebrows. "I'm not so sure, now. I thought it'd be some goody goody bullshit about the second commandment. But Max, thou shalt _totally_ -"

"Make graven images?" Max says, her brow wrinkling. "I haven't even carved a pumpkin in years."

"What?" Chloe blinks. "Uh, shit, really? Okay, um...the seventh commandment?"

And _there's_ Max's blush again. "A-adultery? I mean, I, uh, I'd have to be dating someone first, right? A-and that seems, uh, pretty unlikely-"

"The fuck? No it doesn't, and uh...anyway! Stealing! Which one's stealing?"

"Oh! The eighth commandment! Right, I don't want to do that either."

"It's not stealing if it's stealing from a Prescott! Not after everything _they've_ stolen over the years. It's _liberating_! Don't you want to be a liberator, Max?"

Chloe uses her pout. It's super effective. Max squirms on the couch, breaking eye contact but having a hard time looking at something other than Chloe, because she's _right there_.

For a while after Max moved back to Arcadia Bay she put the giddy delight she felt whenever she met up with Chloe down to the excitement at reconnecting with her best friend after a five year absence. But in the months since their friendship has rekindled, the giddiness hasn't lessened. If anything it gets more and more powerful the more time she spends in Chloe's presence. Max can be slow on the uptake sometimes, but even she's figured out by now that her feelings for Chloe have evolved beyond friendship.

She has no idea what to _do_ with those feelings, but she's pretty sure she shouldn't allow them to motivate her into an act of larceny.

Max takes a deep breath. "Look, Chloe-"

"Noooo, don't be Moral Max! Be Long Max Silver! C'mon, dude. Don't you at least want to know what's in there? There could be, like, finely cured meats! Candy coated money! Beer! Perfectly chilled weed!" Chloe leans in closer. "Cheese, Max. _Fancy_ cheese."

"I..." Max makes the mistake of looking at Chloe's face again. She's smirking, because she knows if there's one weakness in Max's moral armour, it's fancy cheese. Well, that and Max's _entirely healthy_ sense of curiosity. "There's no way we could sneak into the boys' dorm, then into the breakroom, then...how would we even get past the padlock? Even if it would be, uh, interesting to...maybe peek at a label or two?"

Chloe's smirk becomes a grin. "Aha! There it is! So if I, uh, promise we won't actually _steal_ anything, you'll help me figure out the rest, right?"

Max groans. "I...guess. As a theoretical exercise?"

"Sure, sure, sure! Theoretical and shit, yep." Chloe's grin becomes transcendent. "MaxGuyver! This is gonna be _awesome_!"

* * *

Warren perks up when Max sits across from him at lunch the next day.

"Max! I thought you were getting lunch with Chloe today...uh, nevermind! So glad you decided to join me instead!"

Max bites her lip. "Um, actually Warren-"

"So, have you given any more thought to going to the drive-in, because they're doing an Evil Dead marathon! I was thinking we could get dinner and-"

"Oh, uh, maybe Brooke would-"

"Warren!" He jumps when Chloe dumps herself in the chair next to his. She grabs his shoulder in what Max is almost certain is a friendly gesture. "Dude, are you making a move on Max? _My_ Max?"

It would take slow motion replay, Max thinks, to determine whether she or Warren turns completely red first.

"Oh my _dog_ , Chloe!" Max gasps. "Of course he wasn't-"

At the same time, Warren babbles, "Uh, I mean, maybe? I mean, not a move but I was...what did you say?" He stares at Max. "Uh, haha, no, no moves! Movies, not moves!"

"Good!" Chloe says, grinning at Max. "Because she's too busy for boys right now. Or, y'know, ever!" Chloe squeezes Warren's shoulder, probably affectionately, and releases him. She snatches a few fries from Warren's tray and quickly devours them. "So, moving _swiftly_ on, tell us all about the guard rotation in the boys' penitentiary?"

Warren winces and raises his hand towards his shoulder. He hesitates, glances at Max, and lowers it again, with another grimace. "I, uh, prison? Huh?"

"What Chloe _means_ to say," Max says, kicking at Chloe's shin under the table, "is what times are the breakroom usually empty in your dorm? And what's the layout like? And are there windows facing onto the grounds? Big windows? Small windows? You see, we're, uh, working on a project."

"Oh? Yeah, there's big windows, and they face out onto the grounds, but it sucks right now, because Nathan Prescott got this big, dumb fridge only he can use put in there! And it takes up so much space, and it blocks out a lot of light, and..." Warren pauses, giving Max an odd look. "Wait, is this for a _school_ project? Wasn't Chloe expelled...?"

"Jesus," Chloe grumbles, rubbing her shin. "Way to bring that up, dude. That wound's still fresh!"

"It was...three years ago, wasn't it?"

Chloe glares at him. "Good to know there's a use by date on emotional wounds. Real sensitive. Thanks, Warren!"

Max clears her throat. "Uh, so, anyway! Tell me more about the breakroom! Because we're measuring the, uh, stress relieving qualities of-"

Chloe rolls her eyes. "Max! Other than thinking he has a shot with you, the dude's not stupid!" She turns to Warren, who lets a keening noise escape before he can clamp his mouth shut. "We're breaking into Nathan Prescott's fridge-vault and if you help us with intel, you'll get a share of the swag. You in?"

"I, uh, that seems like a really bad..." Warren looks at Max. "Are _you_ in?"

Max looks at Chloe, who leans an elbow on the table, props her chin on her hand, and looks Max in the eye, grinning happily.

"I didn't agree to actually steal anything! You promised-"

"HA!" Chloe barks triumphantly, slamming her hand on the table. She draws puzzled and annoyed looks from around the cafeteria. "I said _if_ I promised, but I didn't make an actual promise! You already planned this out with me, but we're beyond theoretical now, Max. We're in the shit, girl. There's no turning back!"

Warren clears his throat. "You can always turn back, Max. We could do something together that's less likely to get someone arrested or suspended? Like...oh, say, me and you at the drive-in?"

"Nope!" Chloe holds up a hand in front of Warren's face. "Literally no one asked you to be part of this conversation, Warren."

"Uh, _you_ did when you-"

"Not this specific part of the conversation, Warren!" Chloe raises her other hand, trying to entirely obscure Warren from Max's view. She stares Max in the eye. "You know what? I'll do this without you, if I have to!"

"Chloe! Maybe we should consider another way. We don't have to _steal_ Nathan's stuff...or at least, we could steal it, but..." Before Max can explore the idea that's beginning to develop in her mind, Chloe begins to pout at her, and she loses her train of thought. "Oh, I...guess I'm in."

"Then I'm in, too," Warren says, firmly, trying to lean around Chloe's hands. "Uh...so, what's the plan, exactly?"

Chloe doesn't take her eyes off of Max, but somehow manages to keep her hands in front of most of Warren's face. "Can you get us some pictures of the padlock? Without being seen."

Out of the corner of her eye, Max sees the top of Warren's head bob in what she guesses is a nod. "Sure. I can do that. And I can text you when the fridge is restocked, too."

"Ooh, say 'reupped!' That's cooler." Chloe finally lowers her hands. She purses her lips. "Hmm, shot in the dark, but how many walkie talkies do you have? We're gonna need at least three."

Warren flinches. "How did you know I...?" He sighs. "Yeah, I can get my hands on three."

Chloe grins. "Perfect! Welcome to the crew!"

* * *

Later that day, after classes, they meet up and go back to the dorms.

"This...is a worse idea," Max says nervously.

"No it isn't," Chloe protests around a mouthful of an apple Max is pretty sure Chloe stole from Warren's lunch. "It's...wait, worse? Not bad?"

"We're way past bad at this point. But things _could_ be even worse, so we're not at _worst_. Yet."

Chloe scoffs. "This is a _genius_ idea. And we need a fixer, Max. A sugar mama, if you prefer."

"I don't prefer, because that's gross."

"Whatevs! Just look pretty and _slightly_ helpless, and let me take point on the talking!"

She raises her fist and thumps loudly on the door in front of them.

Max stares up at her. "W-what do you mean? Pretty? _Helpless_?"

Chloe grins at her. "Yeah, just like that! She'll eat it up. Here we go!"

"I'm just looking like I normally look," Max protests.

The door opens before Chloe can answer with anything more than a cheery wink. Victoria Chase glares at Max. She glares at Chloe. She turns her glare back on Max, making Max want to hide behind Chloe.

Chloe says, "Sooo, we need an operational bankroll."

Victoria blinks. "What the fuck are you...oh, wait! I don't care! Would you mind quietly fucking off now?"

She looks at Chloe when she begins to talk, but her angry eyes slide back to Max after the first few words. Aside from being the richest, most popular, and by far the meanest girl in school, Victoria is also Max's across the hall neighbour. And, for reasons Max hasn't been able to figure out, Victoria seems to hate her. Max really doesn't want to give her any cause to launch the fleet of grudges she's harbouring.

Max gulps. "Ah, yeah, um..." Max looks up at Chloe who nods encouragingly. Max takes another deep breath. "We're, uh, here with an, uh, investment opportunity."

Victoria raises an eyebrow. "How intriguing! Hard pass. Bye, now."

She starts to close the door, but Chloe leans her shoulder against it. "No, you'll want to hear this, dude! We're going to fuck up Nathan Prescott!"

"Oh!" Victoria opens her door again. "My _friend_ , Nathan? Why didn't you say so? Now I think I'll report you as a trespasser on school grounds, Chloe, and _you_ , Max...hmm, well I'm sure I'll think of _some_ thing to do with you. Or, uh, to you. Whatever!"

Max panics. "Fridgilege! I, uh, I mean...fridge...privilege. How come Nathan gets it, and no one else does? Not even the queen of the Vortex Club, Victoria Chase?"

Victoria hesitates, the quality of her scowl shifting slightly. "What makes you think I care about Nathan's dumb fridge?" she snaps, in the angry tone of someone who cares a lot about Nathan's dumb fridge. "Even if he won't give me a shelf in it."

Chloe jumps in. "Yeah, see...what we're saying is, it's completely unfair on every-"

"You," Max blurts, "that you don't get one, too. So we were, uh, thinking-"

"We're going to break in, like fuckin' pirates! And, uh..."

"Not so much, um, fuck up _Nathan_ , as, erm, the unjust system at Blackwell which-"

Victoria snorts. "Whatever. I want his champagne. That'll teach him to brag about his Fortnum and Mason hampers and not fucking share. What do you need from me?"

Chloe blinks. "Whoah, dude has freaking champagne in there? This is going to be so fucking rad, Max!"

"No one says rad. Ugh, this conversation is torture! I said, what do you-"

Chloe fishes a crumpled piece of paper out of her pocket. "Juuust a couple completely legal things!"

Victoria takes the paper, unfolds it and reads through the list. "There's a good chance you morons could get in serious trouble for this, if you fuck it up." She sighs happily. "There really is no downside for me here!"

Max scrolls through her phone until she finds the image Warren sent her, and holds it up for Victoria. "And we need this. This exact model."

Victoria grabs Max's hand and hauls the screen closer to her. "Okay, fine. I can do all of..." Victoria pauses, frowning suspiciously at Max. "What moisturiser are you using?"

Max blinks. "Uh...soap?"

"Jesus fucking Christ!" She lets Max go, turns and storms off into her room, leaving the door open. Chloe and Max exchange a look. They're about to go when Victoria returns, and tosses a small tub at Max. "Here. You have nice skin, but it's getting dry, because you're an idiot. If we're even briefly going to be associates, you need to fucking moisturise!"

Chloe raises her hand. "Do I need to moisturise, too?"

Victoria scoffs. "Why would I care about how soft _your_ hands feel...uh, I mean, whatever!"

She looks at the stunned expressions on Max and Chloe's faces, audibly grinds her teeth, and slams the door.

"JUST GET ME MY FUCKING CHAMPAGNE!" Victoria adds, through her closed door.

Max stares up at Chloe. "What...just happened?"

"Shit," Chloe mutters, chewing her lip. "That was a more intense reaction than I expected. So, look, I know it'll be hard, but try to dial down the prettiness next time you see her, Max. Okay? Moving on!"

Chloe walks away.

Max blinks at the space Chloe used to occupy. "Huh? My...question still stands? I have more questions?"

Chloe grabs Max's hoodie and drags her from Victoria's door. "Moving on, Max! We've got work to do."

* * *

They move on exactly ten feet to the right.

Chloe knocks at the next door, and Max once again considers the merits of hiding behind her friend.

The door opens, this time revealing Brooke Scott in all her glory. She wrinkles her brow at Chloe, then spots Max. She adjusts her glasses to give Max a better view of the stink eye she's aiming at her. "Oh. Max. Are you looking for Warren? He's not here."

"Ah..." Max rubs at the back of her neck looking away. There's a window to her right. Maybe she could jump through it? "No! We're looking for you."

"Yeah, dude!" Chloe says, brightly. "Who gives a shit about Wa...uh, I mean, we need help that only you can offer, Brooke!"

Brooke considers Chloe. "With...what?"

"Aerial surveillance." Chloe grins. "We've got this...shenanigan on the go."

Brooke's face twists. "I don't-"

"It's more of a scheme, maybe?" Max offers.

Brooke's face twists even further. "That really isn't-"

"A chicane?" Chloe frowns. "Is that the right word for like, one chicanery?"

"I think chicanery _is_ singular? But not the right word in that context? What about...oh, a lark!"

"Isn't that more like a jape? Y'know, more joke, less crime?"

"Well, maybe we should be less focused on the criminal aspect of this endeavour?"

"But that's the coolest part! Wait, you think that it'll put Brooke off?"

"I think it's putting me off, to be honest."

"What? Nah, you're ride or die, Max!"

"Oh. Uh...what does ride or die mean?"

Brooke clears her throat. "HEY! Did you guys forget I was here?"

Max shares a guilty look with Chloe.

Chloe waves her hands in a reassuring way. "Definitely not, no way!"

"Uh, n-no! How could we?"

"Nobody got lost in anybody's deep blue eyes!"

"Or an, uh, lexical disagreement. Wait, what did you say, Chlo?"

Brooke snorts. "Look, I don't think I'm interested in whatever you're-"

Chloe quickly says, "See, we're breaking into Nathan Prescott's fridge. We're going to sneak down into the boys' dorms while it's quiet, bypass the padlock like pros, stuff our duffels full of swag, and book it out of there. We just need some of your time next week. And your drone-flying skills."

Brooke shakes her head, backing away.

"To be honest, Brooke," Max says, biting her lip, "you'd also have to hang out with Warren a bunch?"

Brooke pauses. "Warren's involved in this?"

"Yep, yep!" Chloe grins. "He's our inside boy. You'll be our outside girl!"

"But, to be clear, Brooke, we need your drone outside. But you'll be inside!" Max hesitates, feeling almost guilty, in spite of the fact that Warren and Brooke would make a perfect couple. Chloe nudges her. "Inside with...Warren! We'll need both of you to, uh..."

"Handle coms!" Chloe says, slinging an arm around Max's shoulder. "While Max and I do the actual chicane!"

Max is too busy blushing at Chloe's casual touch to point out that they ruled that word inadmissible.

Brooke steps back into the doorway. "Tell me everything about this caper you're pulling. Are there planning charts?" Brooke nods slowly, her eyes filling with an unholy light. "Yeah...I, uh, _we_ should grab Warren, pull an all-nighter, and make the _fuck_ out of some charts."

* * *

Max spends Saturday afternoon with Chloe, picking up the last couple of things they need for the job. Max's phone pings with a text from Victoria, letting her know that their completely legal gear has arrived.

Max nudges Chloe, who is gravely considering a large black beanie. "Hey, Victoria came through. I, uh, I guess we're really doing this, huh?"

Chloe sighs. "I'm not sure I feel right about this, Max."

"We can totally pull the plug!" Max's heart leaps and she feels her spine decompress. "Honestly, aside from how mad Victoria's going to be, it's kind of a relief..."

She trails off in the face of Chloe's puzzled face.

"Max, I was talking about cutting eyeholes into a beanie. I'm feeling _jazzed_ about the, uh, other thing." She tries to surreptitiously look around the thrift store to see if anyone's paying attention, catching the attention of the clerk in the process. "Are you having second thoughts, dude?"

Max has moved way beyond second thoughts. She's currently on 'lost count of how many' thoughts. She smiles nervously, grabs Chloe's wrist and tugs her away from the hats to a bookshelf full of old paperbacks.

"I'm just...nervous," Max says weakly. It has the virtue of being true, if vague. "A lot of things could go wrong, and I'm not comfortable with the whole...breaking the eighth commandment part. Even if it is for a good cause."

Chloe raises her eyebrows. "Max, no one's asking you to commit adultery." Her expression darkens. "They'd better not be, anyway!"

"No! I...the other one, remember?"

"Huh? Oh!" Chloe waves a hand dismissively. "Pumpkin carving will come back to you, dude. It's like riding a bike, but...with a knife."

Max gapes at her. She's still deciding whether to forge on or drop the subject when she realises that she hasn't dropped Chloe's wrist yet. 

Chloe suddenly looks at the bookshelf and begins to grin her smuggest grin. "Well, well! Where _have_ you brought me? Is there something else on your mind today, Max?"

With a mounting sense of dread, Max looks at the bookshelf. Books with titles like _Her Scandalous Sexton_ and _Saucy Submariners: The Mile Below Club_ look back at her.

Max squeaks and drags Chloe away from the bookshelf to the refuge of a rack of earth tone cardigans. "Oh, uh, I, n-no? I, um, it was a t-total concidence!"

"Damn, Max. What's the rush? I was kinda hoping to have a quick skim through _Dangerous Dalliances: The Duchess and The Delinquent_." Chloe's smirk softens into a smile as she studies Max's face. She raises her hand and gently presses her fingertip against Max's cheek. Her voice gets soft, somehow without quite losing the teasing edge. "You're blushing pretty hard, Max. Got a thing for Duchesses?"

"No." Max swallows, feeling trapped and entirely unwilling to escape. She takes a breath and says, "I...think I prefer-" Her phones buzzes, startling her and breaking the moment. Max releases her grip on Chloe, and Chloe backs off a step while Max checks her phone. "Oh, shit!"

"What's up?"

"We need to get back to Blackwell. We've got a problem."

* * *

"Poker night," Warren explains grimly. "Tonight at midnight, in the breakroom. I overheard Zach and Hayden talking about it."

The entire crew is gathered in Max's bedroom, even Victoria, who crossed the hall carrying a large box, and wearing shades and a hoodie in the hopes that no one would recognise her. She's now sitting bolt upright, perched on the very edge of Max's couch, alongside Brooke. Brooke has a pad, presumably full of charts, a laptop, presumably for animated charts, and a whiteboard, presumably for charting on the fly. Chloe's sprawled all over the bed, and partly over Max, who's sharing it with her. Warren's standing awkwardly by Max's desk.

The room is silent after Warren's declaration. Well, almost. Chloe's noisily eating a bag of Foil Fresh Where's The Beef? potato chips, and it's almost fun watching Victoria grimace every time Chloe sprays crumbs everywhere, except for the part where Chloe's spraying crumbs all over Max's stuff.

Brooke's the first to respond to Warren's announcement. "So what?"

Victoria glares at her, though the effect is slightly spoiled by the shades she's still wearing. " _So_? Nathan's going to drink all my fucking champagne! And my new ice bucket just arrived."

Max rubs her neck, looking at Chloe. "Yeah, I...think that if they're having a big game night tonight, that fridge is going to be empty by tomorrow. And we can assume there'll be people in the breakroom from, maybe, eleven, right? If not earlier? So that doesn't give us any real chance to do what we need to do. So we should-"

"Go at 22.30 tonight," Chloe says, sitting up and carelessly discarding the chips. "Because all this means is, that fridge is _stocked up_ with all kinds of forbidden wonders, ladies and boy! We're talking beer, spirits, and crazy rich people shit! God, I can fucking taste the caviar already. It is too salty and disgustingly fishy, but I want it anyway. And we can take it. We haven't had as much prep time as we'd like, but we've got everything we need! We've got this!"

"There won't be any caviar, dumbass," Victoria says, stifling a yawn. "But I want my champagne, so, sure! Do it, or whatever."

Brooke taps a green dry erase marker against her cheek. "I understand the general outlines of the plan, but...how are you getting past the padlock?"

Chloe grins. "Vicky, if you would?"

"Don't ever call me that again." Victoria sighs and lifts the box she brought with her onto her lip. She roots around inside it, producing a small black zip up pouch and a shiny new padlock. "The exact model of lock on Nathan's fridge, and some entirely legal lock picks."

"Oh, yeah, baby! I, uh, have some experience with picks, so I just need to suss out this particular lock." Chloe gestures at Victoria, who tosses both items to Chloe. "I'll get started on this bad boy right away!"

Warren raises his hand. "Um...if you have the same padlock...don't you have a key?"

Chloe scoffs, and nudges Max. "This guy! He's clearly never broken into anything in his life."

Warren blinks. "Is...that somehow a _bad_ thing?"

Max shakes her head. "No, no, Warren!" She finds her gaze drawn to Chloe's cocky grin, though, and Max finds an answering grin forming on her own lips. "Not everyone's born to be a rebel."

Chloe winks at her.

"Gag," Victoria mutters, shifting on the couch so she's angled away from Max. "Get a room I'm not in, please?"

Max tears her eyes away from Chloe, blushing profusely.

"Padlocks!" Chloe says, her voice sounding slightly strained. "If the manufacturer made each model with only one lock, they'd be worthless security-wise, right? Each and every lock isn't _unique_ , but even for a batch of small, three pin jobs, it'd be a one in sixteen chance we'd have a key that would match Nathan's. This sucker?" Chloe hefts the brass lock. "It's more like one in 200. So odds are against our key working on his lock. But I can practice on this, and get a feel for how the general mechanism operates. Which means Nathan's padlock will be my bitch in a matter of minutes when I get down there."

"You're such a delinquent, Chloe," Max sighs happily.

Warren scuffs his shoe on Max's carpet. "Dammit, delinquency is supposed to be a bad thing!" He bites his lip. "So, uh, Brooke, this is off-topic, but...how do you feel about drive-in cinemas?"

Victoria snorts. " _I_ feel like you should talk about your disgusting personal habits on your own time. Let's conclude our business, shall we?" While Chloe goes to work unzipping the lock picks, Victoria pulls two more items out of the box. "Earpieces for the walkie talkies. I think I've held up my end?"

Max nods. "You totally have. Thanks so much, Vic-"

"Whatever. Wipe everything down, I don't want my prints on anything. I was never here, I don't know any of you, etc. Now!" Victoria stands up, dumping the empty box on Max's couch. She clicks her fingers at Brooke, who flinches. "You. Roll up your sleeve."

"Uh..." Brooke looks like she wants to argue, but Victoria yanks off her shades and Brooke wilts under the full intensity of Victoria's glare. She hesitantly rolls up the right sleeve of her hoodie. "Why am I doing this?"

"You're wearing an _Injustice in Heaven, Hell on Earth_ hoodie." Victoria plucks the marker from Brooke's grasp, seizes her wrist, and quickly scribbles something on Brooke's arm. "Have you seen the second season yet?"

Brooke blinks up at Victoria. "Uh...no? It isn't out in America."

"Well, I recently imported the Blu-Ray from Japan. I haven't watched it, either. And now you have my number. You're a science nerd, aren't you?" Victoria pauses a beat while she slides her shades back on. She smirks. "Do the math, Brooke. Ciao!"

She tosses the pen aside, and struts out of Max's room without another word.

They all gape at each other, except for Brooke, who's too busy gaping at her arm.

"What..." Warren shakes his head. "What was that?"

"That was what _game_ looks like!" Chloe looks at Brooke, who's still staring, dumbfounded, at Victoria's number. "Holy shitballs, cute nerdy girls really _are_ Victoria's kryptonite!"

Max blinks, as she begins to do her own mental arithmetic. She doesn't particularly think of herself as worthy of being called _cute_ , but...she is undeniably a nerd. Max blushes. "Oh! They, uh, are?"

Chloe shoots her a startled look. But then she smiles at Max, almost shyly. "Uh, yeah, Max. She is _really_ not alone in that, either. Y'know, for the record."

Max ducks her head, not quite able to keep looking at Chloe. She's not quite able to define the feeling that swells in her chest at Chloe's smile, at her words, and what she thinks might be behind those words.

But she knows that it's a good feeling.

Warren clears his throat, looking anxiously from Brooke to Max. "Uh, so...what now?"

Chloe snickers. "You look for another girl?"

"Chloe!" Max shakes herself and looks up. "Uh...now we-"

"Gear up and get into our ready positions," Brooke snaps, raising her head. "Chloe needs to master that lock, Max needs to do a radio check, and then they both need to get changed. We're going to be the eyes and ears of this operation, Warren. We should get set up in your room. I'll have my drone ready to check for campus security at your signal, Max. I think Warren should do a check of the halls around 10.25. You two should be in position by then, so we can go at 10.30, when it's likely to be quietest. We have no idea when they're going to start setting up that poker game, let alone when someone's going to decide they need to use the toilet. We're looking at a seven minute window, at best, so look sharp!"

Everyone else in the room stares at her.

Brooke adjusts her glasses, annoyed. "Let's _go_ people! Victoria needs that champagne!"

* * *

At 10.15, Max and Chloe are in the rear stairwell, on the landing above the boys' dorm. They're wearing what Chloe has dubbed their ghost pirate outfits: dark sweats, plain hoodies, beanies, rubber gloves, and two pairs of thermal socks each on their otherwise bare feet. They each have a walkie talkie clipped to their waistbands, an empty duffel bag, and Chloe has what she swears is Joyce's old fanny pack for her lock cracking tools.

Max fumbles her radio's earpiece into place, raises the mic to her mouth, and whispers, "We're in place. You guys set?"

Warren answers her, sounding crackly with panic.

"Slow down, Warren! I didn't get that."

Chloe raises her eyebrows at Max. She quickly puts her own earpiece in place.

Warren says, "We have to abort! Brooke was-"

He breaks off, only for Brooke's voice to take over a few seconds later. She speaks slowly, calmly. "Guys, we have a problem. I was setting up my laptop's wifi, when I noticed a weird device. I googled it, and...it's a wireless webcam. A new model, too. It's only been out for a few weeks."

Max stares at Chloe. "Do you think...?"

"Nathan's got a fucking Nanny Cam watching his fridge? Sounds like it! What a _motherfucker_!"

Max winces. "Do we abort? We should abort."

Chloe gasps. "What? No!" She steps into Max's space, leans down close. "If we walk away now, we'll never know the truth, Max!"

"Uh...about whether or not Nathan has caviar?"

"About a lot of things," Chloe whispers, staring at Max intently. "Ride or die, Max."

"Oh, dog, Chloe! I still don't know what that means, which really adds to the pressure of choosing one of those options!" Max wrinkles her nose. "Oh, _great_ , and now since I said 'pressure,' I need to pee!"

"You always need to pee, Max. Your bladder is tiny. But there are two kinds of pee! Quitter pee, and _victory_ pee!"

"That's an easier to understand analogy, even though I wish it was something you hadn't said out loud."

"Look, Max..." Chloe backs off a step. Max isn't sure if it's a relief or a disappointment, or somehow both. "I got nothing for dealing with a camera. We've got our beanie-clavas to cover our faces, but...it won't be too hard to figure out a couple of girls raided his fridge. And if he can check that thing on his phone or his computer, he could catch us champagne-handed. If you want to call this off...we can. And I wouldn't blame you." Chloe smiles wanly. "Honestly, it's been hella fun just putting this shit together, like we really did grow up to be pirates. We got...we got close enough to the prize."

Max closes her eyes, thinking frantically. At length, she lifts her mic and croaks, "Brooke? Warren? Do you still have that whiteboard? I need you to draw something for me."

When she's done explaining what she needs, Max opens her eyes to find Chloe watching her. Max smiles. "I need to run upstairs for a couple of things, but...Long Max Silver says: let's get that booty!"

And really, the look of glee that comes over Chloe's face when she says it is treasure enough for Max.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Max and Chloe huddle up over Max's phone, looking at the imagess Brooke messaged them. The first is a drawing Warren made; a plan of the breakroom. The second is a diagram of the webcam, and the last is a crude sketch by Brooke with an estimate of the camera's likely field of view.

"Okay," Max says, "The way I see it, it's gotta be up high, out of line of sight, because most people aren't going to be thrilled to find a camera in the breakroom. So...up on top of these cupboards." Max runs her finger along the relevant area of the plan. "And I think there are only two likely spots. Here, facing the fridge directly, or, way worse for us, here...in the corner."

Chloe grimaces. "Fuck. That's got to be it, right? That way you can cover the breakroom door, _and_ get an angle on the fridge, too. Ahhh, fuck, how do we beat that?"

Their radios burst into life, bringing them Warren's nervous voice. "Guys? I just checked, and the hall is clear. Brooke's drone is flying, and she says the lawn's clear, too. It's time...may the Force be with you."

Chloe rolls her eyes. Into her mic, she mutters, "Yeah, thanks. Qapla' to you, too!" She turns to Max. "He's so lame. So, what's the plan, Maxstermind?"

" _He's_ the lame one?"

"More plan, less sass! We're running out of time, here!"

Max nods, reluctantly. "Okay...don't worry, I think I've got the camera covered." She pulls her beanie-clava down over her face, and watches Chloe do the same through the mismatched eyeholes Chloe cut in the fabric. "Here we go...just follow my lead, Chloe!"

* * *

Max follows Chloe down the stairs, where they pause. Chloe eases the door open and peers out into the hall. She slips through the door, signalling Max to follow her. It's beyond weird, walking out into the boys' dorm; it's quiet, but the hall light is still on. If anyone leaves their room while they're in the hall, they'll be busted, and there won't be any easy way to explain what they're doing dressed here like thrift store ninjas.

They only have to pass three doors on their way to the corner, but every step taken is its own special torture. Max is already sweating heavily. Her padded footsteps are virtually soundless, and even Chloe's hardly making any noise. But that means that every creaking floorboard, every click, scrape, or other evidence of movement behind the doors they're passing serves to push the accelerator of Max's heart that much closer to the floor.

They make it to the corner. Chloe jerks her head out and back before flattening herself against the wall with a rustle of cloth that sounds deafening to Max's straining ears.

Max presses close to her, whispering, "We clear?"

Chloe shrugs. "Too fast. I didn't see shit! And...I'm dizzy now."

Before she can try again, Max shakes her head. She steps around Chloe, and sticks her head around the corner. She looks both ways, and sighs in relief. "Clear!"

It takes another forty seconds to reach the breakroom. Max feels like she ages maybe forty years by the time they've taken position on either side of the door. Max checks, and sees a narrow band of light under the door. She presses her ear to the wood and listens. In spite of the drums pounding in her ears, she's almost certain there's no one moving inside. She nods at Chloe, who carefully turns the doorknob, and slowly pushes the door open. When it's wide enough, Max slips her hand through the gap, and kills the light.

Chloe pushes the door a little wider, and Max slips through, drops into a crouch, and crawls across the floor to the big table in the middle of the room, the one Nathan and his buddies have set up for their game tonight. Max takes cover under the table, trying to get her nervous breathing under control while Chloe follows her in, ducking under the table.

"Now what?" Chloe whispers.

"Stay low. Make for the corner."

Max goes first, crawling as low as she can manage, until she bumps her head into a storage cabinet.

Chloe chuckles as she moves alongside Max.

"Not funny," Max hisses. "We should be right under it. Boost me, and I'll disable it with my...uh, special device."

Chloe nods, the movement barely discernible in the low light afforded them by the lamps outside the windows. She crouches in front of Max, making a step out of her hands. Max quickly stands up, puts her foot in Chloe's hands, and then she's being shoved up above to the level of the wall cupboards. Max grabs the top of the cupboards and braces her other foot against the wall to her right. She takes a deep breath, then warily raises her head, just enough to see over the top of the cupboards. 

She looks left. Nothing. She looks right...and sees the camera, a small grey sphere sitting on a mount a few inches above and to the right of her. Max reaches into her hoodie pocket.

Below her, Chloe gasps. "Dude...hurry..."

Biting her lip, Max eases the empty packet of Foil Fresh Where's The Beef? flavour potato chips all the way out of her pocket. Working as quickly as she dares, she raises the packet up above the camera, and drops it over the whole apparatus.

"Done!"

Chloe grunts and lowers her to the ground, clutching at her when Max sways dizzily.

"Thanks," Max whispers, her heart thundering from a whole different kind of nerves as Chloe holds her in her arms.

Chloe just nods, and lets her go when she's sure Max has her balance back. "So, Max...did you just put my wrapper over the camera?"

"Y-yeah. Foil blocks signals, right? It'll look like a software glitch to Nathan...buy us a few minutes. Right?"

Chloe's quiet for a second. "Yeah, so...we're gonna hurry now!"

She makes her way to the fridge, Max following close behind her, proud of them both for only occasionally tripping over a piece of furniture, and of Chloe for swearing very quietly.

Chloe hunkers down by the fridge, caressing it's steely surface. "Oh, shiiit...I'm gonna bust you wide open, girl!"

"Gross! Don't anthropomorphise the fridge!"

"Spoilsport." 

Chloe opens her fanny pack and passes Max a pencil flashlight. She digs out a pick and a torsion wrench, while Max switches on the light. She shines the narrow beam on the padlock, keeping her body between the light and the window. Chloe nods at Max. She takes a couple of slow, deep breaths, then goes to work on the lock.

Minutes pass. The only sounds Max can hear are hers and Chloe's breathing and the quiet scrape and occasional click of Chloe's tools. Until she hears something else. Something bad. A door opens in the hall, and someone with big feet and a deep voice begins to stomp in the direction of the breakroom.

Chloe doesn't look away from her work, but her shoulders tense. "Need a minute here," she whispers.

From outside, muffled but audible, a boy says, "Brah, I'm pumped for tonight, bro!"

Zach Riggins, one of Blackwell's football stars.

Another voice says, "Yeah, like, Nathan's been promising some goood shit. I'm gonna get wasted!"

Logan Robertson, another football star, in spite of how often he gets wasted.

Max bites her lip. She tries to keep the light steady for Chloe with one hand while she lifts her mic to her lips with the other. She whispers as loudly as she dares, "Warren..."

"Max! I think there's someone out there! Are you still in there? Because you should get out of there!"

"Warren...go out into the hall."

"What? No! There are football bros out there. I'm too young to bro!"

Chloe softly curses.

"We _need_ you, Warren!" Max hisses, anxiety dumping several pints of adrenaline into her system. An idea hits her. "Get out there, and tell them you want to get swole! Ask them about protein shakes!"

" _What_? No! I can't-" He breaks off, yelping. "Okay, Brooke's pinching me and her grip is insane. I'll do it, I'll do it!"

Max stares anxiously at the breakroom door. The sounds of obnoxious jocks excitedly bro-ing at each other increases in volume. A shadow blots out the strip of light at the bottom of the door.

The doorknob turns. The door opens an inch, two inches, three...

Suddenly, Warren's voice rings out in the hall. "O-oh! Zach! Logan! Hey...bros! Uh, do you have a minute?"

Suspiciously, Zach says, "'Sup, Darren? Isn't this past your bedtime?"

"Oh," Warren says, and Max can easily picture the way his shoulders slump. "I...am Darren, now. Uh, so, anyway! Um, y'know, guys, I just couldn't sleep, because...uh, I...want to get...swole? And, uh, I'm so ready to...get my pump on? But, uh, I realised I don't know where to start, and, uh...do you guys, maybe, protein shake?"

"Holy fuck," Chloe gasps. "He is _not_ cut out for chicanes!"

Slowly, Logan says, " _You_ wanna get...swole?"

"Dude!" Zach barks, and there's the meaty sound of his slab-like hand slapping against some part of Logan's anatomy. "Do we protein shake, brah? Fuck _yeah_ , we protein shake! Fuck, dude! Let's hook Darren the Dweeb up!"

The shadow recedes from the door.

"Oh, so that's going to be my name, now?" Warren says. Max is proud of the way he barely whimpers when he says it. "Oh...wow...you guys are...befriending me!"

The three new friends go back down the hall. Before the sound of Zach or Logan's door cuts them off entirely, Max hears Warren's last despairing cry. "Your friendship is so physical! And painful!"

Max sighs. "Thanks, Warren!"

She hears a soft click.

Chloe turns to face Max, her eyes wide behind her beanie-clava. "I...picked it. We're in, Max!"

"Never doubted you for a second," Max whispers. "Shall we?"

Together, they grasp the handle of the fridge, and open the door. Chloe gasps when the bulb in the fridge washes them in golden light. 

"It's...it's more beautiful than I ever dared hope, Max!"

"Wowser, that's _real_ Lombardy Parmigiano-Reggiano!"

"Cheese nerd."

"Hey! I'll have you know some people are really into nerds."

Chloe meets Max's eye. "Yeah. Some people are. People like...me, Max."

And while Nathan's fridge remains unpilfered, Chloe effectively steals Max's breath with that admission.

Brooke's voice sounds in Max's ear. "Hey, guys? Are you done yet? The mission clock is in the red, is all..."

"Right!" Chloe opens her duffel bag. "Let's loot this thing and go home!"

They stuff their bags full of Nathan's supplies, then, after getting the all clear from Brooke, they lower the bags out of the window into the concealment of some bushes outside.

Working quickly, they retrace their steps. Max retrieves her special webcam disabling device. She uses her phone to snap a quick picture of the camera, too, before she and Chloe sneak out of the breakroom, walk quickly through the boys' dorm, slip into the stairwell, and run as fast as they can back to the girls' dorm.

They start giggling like lunatics before they've made it to the top of the first flight of stairs.

* * *

Back in her room, Max takes off her beanie-clava, sets her alarm for four am, and flops onto her bed, no longer giggling, but still grinning.

Chloe tears her own improvised mask off and lets out a soft whoop. "Holy fucking shit, Max! We fucking did it!"

"Well, we still need to dig up the buried treasure..."

"Yeah...and give Vicky her champagne. Then...man, it hurts to say this!"

Max smiles, and waits patiently.

Chloe sighs. "Then we sit on the stash, wait for Nathan to kick up a fuss, and...reveal to the Blackwell authorities that Nathan had a shitload of booze and a camera rigged in the breakroom."

Max nods. "Right! Because?"

"Because...Nathan won't get in serious trouble, because he's a fucking Prescott...but they'll have to take the fridge away. And then the boys get their whole breakroom back...and Victoria gets her champagne...and Brooke gets to watch anime with Victoria...probably while sipping champagne! And Warren's going to get super swole. But what do we get, Max?!"

"The satisfaction of pulling off the greatest chicane in Blackwell's history, Chloe! Without having to, uh, _completely_ sacrifice our morality!"

"I _guess_ ," Chloe grumbles. But it isn't long before she brightens again. "And I also got a sweet set of lock picks, too! Ha! Okay, okay, it sucks giving up our plunder, but...I like your plan, Maxstermind."

"Why, thank you! I, uh, never would've even tried something this crazy without you, though, Chloe Price."

Chloe rocks on her heels, and ducks her head. "God, there's no way I'm gonna be able to sleep! I'm too wired! That was fucking _insane_ , dude!"

Max sits up, grinning. "Yeah, I know! But we need to do _something_ for the next five hours!"

Chloe's grin fades as she locks eyes with Max. "Well, uh, did you have anything in mind?"

Her voice is too casual to be convincingly casual.

Max swallows nervously. "Uh, well, I think maybe...what about this?"

She gets up, and just like that she's on the edge of Chloe's space. She steps forward, and just like that, she's _inside_ Chloe's space. She reaches up, and just like that, her fingers are tangled in the soft, short locks of Chloe's bright blue hair. Max stands up on tiptoe, angling her head, and just like that, she's kissing Chloe.

When their lips finally part, Chloe's got this soft, glowy sort of look in her eye and a gentle smile on her lips, and Max thinks that she's probably looking about the same way right now.

Chloe says, "You think we can do that sort of thing for five whole hours, huh?"

Max laughs. "I'm willing to try, if you are!"

And as it turns out, Chloe is.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, folks!
> 
> This all got way more involved than I intended it to be! I've been editing like crazy, but I've run out of editing steam (and time). Please do let me know if anything doesn't make sense, plotwise! And, for that matter, please do let me know your thoughts in general!
> 
> Thanks again! See you in the next one!


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